When Hai Xuang gave Lan Mei an inquisitive expression, she said, "When a domain lord asks for your hand, you don't say no. Not unless you wish for you and your family to disappear overnight."
"You… were forced to marry him?" Hai Xuang asked.
"Is that so hard to believe? I have no one to blame but myself. I am weak. Weak people have no right to choose."
Lan Mei uttered the same sentence, but Hai Xuang had a different impression from hearing it than before. He understood then that she was not mocking her bodyguards earlier. She was pitying herself. She and her bodyguards were in the same predicament. They had very little control over their fates.
"I don't need your pity," Lan Mei said.
"I… I'm not pitying you."
"Your expression says differently."
Hai Xuang lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry. I wish there was something I could do."
"Unless you can defeat my husband, then there is no need to daydream," Lan Mei said.
